Oil spill was 400 barrels not four, CP now says

Crews cleaning up after train derailment in northern Ontario

Canadian Pacific Rail says significantly more oil spilled when a train derailed in Northern Ontario on Wednesday, revising the amount affected at 400 barrels instead of four.

CP Rail spokesman Ed Greenberg said it was initially thought that only one car leaked a small amount of light sweet crude oil, but officials later discovered a second car was also leaking oil.

“The second car was difficult to assess due to its position among the derailed equipment, but showed no signs of the product around its base during initial assessments,” he said, adding it was hidden in the snow.

CP cleanup crews have built a berm to contain the oil, and it will all be removed. Officials are sampling the soil and ground water, but CP said there is no indication the oil has leaked beyond the berm.

The 128-car train was travelling from Thunder Bay to Montreal, when the derailment occurred near White River, halfway between Marathon and Wawa.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has dispatched investigators to the scene. It was the second derailment in a week for CP, where crude oil has leaked from tankers.

Last week, another train, also carrying mixed freight, derailed in Minnesota, causing an estimated 15,000 gallons of oil to spill.

Officials said because the ground was frozen, it is believed oil was contained on the surface, but further soil testing will be done.

Transporting crude oil by rail has been on the rise as giant pipeline projects like Keystone XL in the United States and Northern Gateway, linking Alberta to British Columbia, have been on hold due to stiff environmental opposition.